What each Premier League club needs from final two games in order to qualify for Europe

Arsenal, Manchester City and Manchester United have all qualifed for European football but there are nine teams still in with a chance

Things are starting to heat up in the race for European football, with nine Premier League clubs still in with a chance of qualifying for a spot in a European competition next season. Arsenal, Manchester City and Manchester United have already guaranteed their spot in the Champions League next season, but there are still spots up for grabs in the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League.

Aston Villa's run to the Europa League final will have been cheered on by several clubs in the top-flight, given the implications it could have on the amount of teams qualifying for the Champions League next season. Unai Emery's side are currently fifth in the Premier League and if they finish the season in that position and win the Europa league, then the team who finishes the Premier League in sixth place will also qualify for the Champions League.

That means the likes of Brighton, Bournemouth and Brentford could play Champions League football for the first time in their history. However, if Villa win the Europa League and finish above Liverpool in fourth, then only five teams will qualify for the Champions League.

With that in mind, Mirror Football has taken a look at the permutations for the clubs still in with a shout of European football next season.

Who can qualify for Europe?

There are still nine teams who can qualify for European football next season. Aston Villa, Liverpool, Brighton, Bournemouth, Brentford, Chelsea, Everton, Fulham and Sunderland can all mathematically qualify for one of the European competitions next season if results go their way, but there are plenty of caveats.

As things stand, the top five teams in the Premier League will qualify for the Champions League, while there are to two Europa League qualifying places. The team who finishes the season in sixth place and the winners of the FA Cup will qualify for that competition.

There's also a spot available in the Conference League for the winners of the Carabao Cup, though Manchester City have already qualified for the top competition and therefore forfeited their position in the Conference League. Their position in the tournament will go to the Premier League team who finishes the highest and has not qualified for European football, currently seventh in the league.

But, what if Chelsea win the FA Cup? Well, the Blues will qualify for the Europa League and they're currently ninth in the Premier League. However, if they finish sixth, then seventh place would also qualify for the Europa League, while eighth place would qualify for the Conference League.

If Man City win the FA Cup, something similar will happen. Sixth and seventh will qualify for the Europa League, while the team who finishes in eighth will qualify for the Conference League.

If Crystal Palace win the Conference League, they'd be guaranteed of a spot in the Europa League next season, in addition to what occurs above.

What if Aston Villa win the Europa League?

This is where things get interesting. If Aston Villa win the Europa League and finish in third or fourth, then the top-five will go into the Champions League, while the club in sixth will go into the Europa League and seventh into the Conference League before the knock-on effect of the FA Cup winner.

If Emery's side finish in fifth and are crowned Europa League champions, then an extra Champions League spot would be passed on to sixth place and the Premier League would sacrifice its Europa League spot for this position.

If the Villans finish in sixth, the top-five teams would qualify for the Champions League, along with Villa for winning the Europa League, but the Premier League would give up it's Europa League spot for league position in this scenario.

In either of the last two scenarios, if Chelsea are crowned FA Cup winners, but are left outside of the qualification spots, they would take the one remaining Europa League spot.

If Man City win the FA Cup, then that Europa League qualifying spot will go to the club in seventh. The Premier League could have as many as nine clubs competing in Europe next season.

With six spots in the Champions League, two in the Europa League and one in the Conference League.

Final day dilemma

As if things weren't tricky enough, there's also a chance that Brighton or Brentford could want to lose on the final day of the season to guarantee themselves of Champions League football. The Bees last game of the season is against Liverpool and a win for the Reds could help them finish above Villa and make emery's side finish in fifth.

For Brighton, who are currently in seventh, they take on Manchester United on the final day of the season and if Michael Carrick's side see Liverpool and Villa close the gap before then, the Seagulls would also benefit from United finishing above Villa.

The Europa League final is set to take place on Wednesday, the weekend before the end of the season, so the Champions League qualification picture will become clearer. If Villa win, it would be in Brentford and Brighton's best interest to ensure Emery's side finish in fifth to open up another Champions League spot.